It is nice to see CLOD Blitz in action. Of course there is still tweaking in the graphics and getting my HOTAS set and transferring my Campaigns, but it is just nice to see this loading on my desktop. I have to admit I haven't even started CLOD in a very long time as I have been waiting for this as patiently as possible. Congrats TFS for all of your Dedication and Hard work and also Equal thanks to 1C for allowing TFS to use the source code. I never thought I would see the day, but Miracles do happen. I already knew and believed this, but I never thought it applied to Flight Sims. These are crude pics but none the less they are some of the first pics of
IL 2 Sturmovik

Cliffs of Dover Blitz


S!Blade<><

Wow! Didn't know this was releasing now. Thank you Team Fusion and Merry Christmas! Thanks for the heads up and great screen shots.

Cool, what a surprise, looking fwd to trying it!

Finally getting my Graphics sorted with 59FPS(V-Sync), skins and single player and Campaign missions installed. Here are a few pics from my tests.



S!Blade<><

Yep, lovely pics

If I get this right though, there is still many many things left to correct to make this really worthwhile for the SP side of things?

I've installed it, uninstalled the previous and original version, but now having to go through all the set up of controls again, (sigh)

Still, I shall give it another go... but I'm hearing that the mirrors don't always work, and the AI commands are still duff, (that was my biggest problem with it)...
I really wanted to give the campaign another go, but if the commands are still not working is it worth it?

Trooper, yes there are many things to correct, but at least they have everything in a non modded full fledged CLOD update, actually a Core Revision with no updates, that only takes one install. I would suggest looking on the ATAG Forums because many probs have already been solved. There is a pretty easy way to use your old INI file to setup your HOTAS from the old CLOD 4.312 Ini file, much easier than manually starting from scratch. ATAG Colander has created a fix to allow Desastersoft Campaigns to work and there is much more being looked at. The DirectX 11 optimizations seem to have helped my old AMD 965PhenomIIBE 3.4GB and GTX770 4GB to run at a steady 59FPS with Vsync on and no tearing. In some of the Campaign Missions it will dip down into the 20s-35. Not good I know, but there were over 80 planes advertised in the readme for the mission not to mention all other items(bofors,trucks...etc). Anyone that has an up to date System should be running CLOD very easily. The Mirrors have worked fine for me but they are a 10 FPS hit, so I leave them off. The Extended Clouds are the real problem, as they hit for 20FPS on my system, so needless to say, they stay off. I do have to finally admit that the explosions do look to "Cheesy" and I am hoping they will rework or even just return them to the previous original CLOD version. On the other hand, the scenery textures, which were redone , are spectacular. Overall I give them a "A" for reigning in all of the mods and compiling them into one released install-able version. The new Planes are definitely an Awesome addition(they need to fix the Hakenkreuz enabler, as it does not work anymore) and all of the previous Single Player and Campaign missions seem to work. Now it will be fun to see what they can do with the "AI", the "Sqaud Commands", and the new Theater. If they can get those 2 SP issues fixed and introduce the new Theater this next year, I think CLOD will become what it was always meant to be, One of the Top FCB Sims ever. I put my in game Graphics settings as the last picture(thumbnail) to show how my "Old" System can sustain mostly high settings and run a good 50- 59 FPS pretty steady on most all missions.

S!Blade<><

Looks great mate!
I see that they have now adopted the 'no swastika' line as per BoS... I don't know why, but that fact really gets my goat sometimes... why the hell they don't release region specific versions.
I shall have to find some decent skins to make the game historically accurate.

That last shot is epic!

+1 Trooper

Thanks trindade

A few more from some recent flights. Enjoy.

S!Blade<><

Due change in joystick ID (is no more Joystick0, 1, 2... is used device name, e.g. Saitek X-52-09D9945) map controls is need, but is possible assign only axes
and use keys/buttons from previous ConfUser.ini using Find and Replace in Notepad.



Mirrors work better now - but sometimes disappear or show land surfaces wrong (inverted). As they cost some FPS I prefer then "removed" (OFF).



AI commands still the same of previous version (maybe change in 5.0).

But since AI commands after Lutier "sweep under the rug" most of the initially planed extensive commands, what remais is:

Change formation
Formation space

Both work OK 100%.

Attack my target - this work if AI wingman's are near you and still have ammo (obvious), they confirm on radio - all at same time what result in cacophony, so I replace their "Attacking now" voice with static.
They will attack the nearest enemy plane ahead of your plane.

Since no other command related to AI remain after Lutier sweep, for what matter AI commands work.



CloD never show swastika - for same motives of BoS, DCSW, but fortunately don't show that idiote fake swastikas of BoS, DCSW.

A 3rd part sofware for enable swastika over skins are 32 bits software and no longer work for Blitz - 64 bits software.



Yes, BLITZ steep back or at least for side (towards War Thunder): Explosion, Fire, Leakages don't require changes - was the best seem in any CFS until now (IMO), could just tweak their colors.


Paper fire?

Nice desktop wallpaper by TeamFusion.

LOL Sokol1

Just Loving Blitz. Some Favorite recent shots. Thanks to Larry from the ATAG Forums for sharing the 109 skin. That is the coolest skin.

S!Blade<><

I'm amazed, for a 2011 game, how well it holds up visually to the more modern BoS.

Great pics mate... and yes, I'm loving the game as well.
Plus the ATAG guys are very friendly and helpful...

IMHO, that is because CLOD was way ahead of its time in its depth of Oleg's core engine, detail, number of objects and optimization of it all to run in a graphically beautifully rendered Flight Combat Simulation. I never was part of the original debacle because I knew my rig would not run it, but as I watched videos from some that had powerful rigs at the time and were running it, I was completely impressed and thought CLOD would be Superior to anything else available within a couple of years. Obviously it had tons of bugs, or maybe just unfinished work, and it was abandoned, but once TF started patching it and I bought it for 10$ I could see the great potential. I always said that given the Source Code that TF would fulfill Oleg's dream(their own dream, TFS) of seeing CLOD mature into one of the Best FCS ever. I personally do not compare BOX to CLOD or vice versus. I say this because IMHO they are just 2 different animals and I am so appreciative to have both being developed(now that 1C has gotten their act together with the BOX series) that I just want to support both Teams and enjoy the Excellent work they are producing. There are things in both that I am hoping for but overall for me as a SP person I am hoping both Teams will take on improving the AI and AI Command System because I believe doing this will bring in so many SPs that right now are disappointed in the Flight Sim AI in general. I am hoping both Teams will take a look at WOFF UE and Team Dialdos' IL2 1946's AI. IMHO they both have the most creative and interesting AI to fight right now.




Thanks Trooper. The ATAG group is very Friendly and helpful. I am hoping in the not to distant future to actually go online and see how Blitz is doing through its' Net Code. Enjoy!

S!Blade<><

I do know that another patch for Blitz 4.5 is currently being worked on. Not version 5 the Africa add on... So hopefully we may see some more improvements.
Have to say, I do love the external sounds of the aircraft... just listen to this Spit flyby, follow the link..

http://youtu.be/eQ5zdaTw2TQ?t=40m36s

Yep, the sound is improved and does sound great. Maybe the in cockpit gun sounds are a bit off. I had really gotten used to the old 4.312 sounds and these new ones seem a bit subdued, but I like them regardless.

S!Blade<><

Great shots. I'm looking forward to installing this. Could you tell me how you get your image files to actually show up big in your post? SimHQs screenshot upload system seems to have changed yet again and all I could figure out is dragging my captures into the "Attach Files" feature but I don't know how to make large images like you. They just end up being a row of thumbnail slides at the bottom.

Thanks Coot!

1.Write your post in the Full editor.
2.Use attachment manager to attach pictures to your post.
3. Post your post.
4. Look at your post in the thread and right click one of your thumbnails at the bottom and copy link location.
5. Click the Edit button at the bottom of your post. Click to position your cursor 1 line below your signature(or the last thing you wrote in your post).
6. Click the Insert Image Link(the little picture button just to the right of the smiley emoji button).
7. Right click in the Insert Image pop up window. Paste the link you copied in step 4 earlier. Make sure the http:// does not double up here or this won't work.
8. Click Change Post at the bottom of the Full Editor Window.
9. Click View your Post.
10. Your Full size picture should be in your post. Continue these steps for all thumbnails that you want to appear full size in your post.

S!Blade<><

Very sweet thread, smashing pics !
And thx Blade for clarification on posting pics instead of just thumbnails. I had tried everything I could think of, and basically given up.

Cheers,
Slug

Yes thanks Blade_Meister for that. kind of a round about way but its nice to know it can be done!

No problem gents. It is a long process but, it is what it is!
Here are a few more from Blitz!


S!Blade<><

This. And great pics.
Clod damage model amazes me every time. Wish it had a dynamic campaign.

Check here Sir and maybe this will work for you as a DC.

ATAG Dynamic Campaign Thread

Here are a few more pics from a mission I was trying with the ME110 with a beautiful Death head skin.
CLOD Blitz just looks so good. Updated IL2 1946 BAT to the most current offerings and played around with it
a bit and it is really starting to show its age. I have to still love it because that is where it pretty much started
for me, but she is an old girl now and CLOD Blitz just blows her away in the graphics department. She still
reigns supreme in the content department but she is just getting old, just like me

S!Blade<><

blade² what is your setup ? and where do you buy this ? i'm completely out of the loop on sims but want to go back

You can buy it on steam. My system is an old AMD Phenom II 965 BE running at 3.4Ghz, GTX770 4GB, Corsair Vengeance Memory 16GB with a few old HDDs. I
am looking to build a new one this year but until all this CPU Security crap gets fixed and new chips come out, I am just sticking with what I have.

S!Blade<><

love the skins!

Thanks Trooper. I have been looking hard for all the skins I can find for CLOD. I will keep showcasing them when i can get time to fly and do pics.

S!Blade<><

Here are a few more. I have to say, I think the CLOD cockpits are the best or at least tied with the DCS cockpits. Love the detail and click ability.

S!Blade<><

Yeah the cockpits look almost as real as those 360 degree camera pictures of real world cockpits you find on the internet. I may finally install this puppy today. What is the install procedures like for additional skins and where do you get them?

I think the skins are included in Blitz...

Sorry for the stupid question, but how does this differ from IL2-BoS/BoM? Seems like Blitz is from the same guys as BoS/BoM?

i dont know the exact history but a quick rundown is -

CLOD (cliffs of dovers) predates BOS/BOM by many a year and was done by Oleg and his team, 777 then brought out the IL2 brand and name and now handles the dev work and does BoS/BoM
Team Fusion managed to get their hands on the CLOD source code (not sure how though, i think 777 gave it to them?) and they've been updateing it over the years and improving it, Blitz being their latest version

Pretty basic history but i think thats the main points

IIRC, CloD wasn't very well recieved by the fans, right?

I guess my question is --- if I have BoS/BoM, what does Blitz have to offer? More of the same?

i cant remember what the reviews where like CLOD first came out, but the general impression i got was "looked great, but not didnt play as great", i've not heard anything bad the TF fixes though.

I cant comment on what exactly it has to offer as i dont actually have either CLOD or BoS/Bom, i just know a little of the back story

There are some new skins... but all the 'historical and correctly marked' skins have to be sought out as they are made by other users.
There is of course the banning of certain historic symbols that will not come with the game... that includes historic RAF skins as well, as even 'kill marks' cannot be shown...

Short version: BLITZ = too little, too late. - Despite all TFS work.

Long version:

This is still my "go to" sim when I want to fly WW2 airplanes. I picked up Stalingrad during the Christmas sale and it's okay, but it hasn't really grabbed me. I know that I'm not interested in the Russian Front, or in Soviet airplanes, but it looked so good that I had to try it out. But if it wasn't for the P-40 collector plane I also purchased, I might not be flying it at all. And that Stalingrad map is a bit barren. Might make a good North Africa scenerio when the P-39 and A20 come out. But right now, it is really boring to fly over.
I find the SP combat in CLOD just fine. The ai don't behave any differently then in just about any other flight sim I've used. I've gotten my butt kicked several times so they aren't all that bad. Unless I just completly suck! And I've never had the prop or flying parts issue that was mentioned. Runs perfectly for me.
But I have high hopes for Bodenplatte. And I'm still actually thinking of buying Kuban so that I can fly the Aircobra and Havoc.
But I still think that CLOD is an amazingly immersive flight sim experience.

Thanks for that Sokol! Pity as the screenshots are very beautiful.... now where have I seen that before....

This is a screen shot thread. Please leave it at that. CLOD still needs work, but what FS doesn't.
If easy changes can be made, then make them and share them with the community, but go start
your own thread to do it. One person's opinion of CLOD should not be used as the final say on it's
success or failure. CLOD is still in development, that in itself is a good thing. The CLOD Thread
Would be a great place to have this discussion. Thanks for your consideration.

S!Blade<><

Sorry for the hijack there Blade, no offense meant to you. Just wondered if this was worth getting considering I already have BoS and BoM and did not know what Blitz brought to the simming table. I've long since stopped buying based on screenshots... and that was a little inside joke between me and Sokol as he was poking fun at me in the DCS sub-forum.

Continue on with your beautiful screenshots!

No offense taken Sir. I agree, never buy a FS based on screen shots alone.

S!Blade<><

Tried to PM you Ice, but it seems your PM is full and this is not possible.


I DON'T HAVE A GOOD FEELING ABOUT THIS!!!

Check PM!

S!Blade<><

The pilot in that Spitfire had better bail out before he loses any more altitude!!


Wheels

Nah! He has that 109 on the ropes, a quick rolling up scissors and he will be on the 109s tail blasting away.
Here are a few more from the Beautiful Blitz.

S!Blade<><

Here are some from the other night.

S!Blade<><

Great pics as usual mate!

Here are a few new ones.

S!Blade<><

Great shots, Blade. CLOD is a favorite. I've been absolutely immersing myself in Spitfire goodness, flying the CLOD Spit 1 and the DCS Spit 9.

Thanks Pooch. Here are some new ones.

S!Blade<><

I keep going back to Malta for some reason. This was an early morning Escort mission in the G50.

S!Blade<><

Great shots as always Blade,I've recently downloaded the Malta pack for blitz and had an hour on it earlier..enjoyed it. Between blitz and WOTR I'm having great fun in the Hurricane.

Cheers pal

Yea, I have had a lot of fun with CLOD in general but that malta pack has been calling me, so that is what I have been flying. I really wish 5.0 would get here. It is do or die I fear for TF on this one, so I hope they get it right, especially the AI and SP Comms. If they do,
I think CLOD will have new life and a chance to expand. If they don't, I feel that would be the end. Hoping for the best! Glad you like the pics, I thought they were unique.

S!Blade<><

I have started flying the Hurricane by the cockpit gauges only and using the clickable switches in the cockpit for everything. What a blast, no zoom, just TIR5 zoom, and rad control in cockpit, boost cutoff in cockpit and trims on the throttle. The Hurricane handles great on the ground and in the air, a bit heavy(slow) but she turns on a dime. I was practicing fighting an BF109E1? and had a blast. The AI was surprisingly good and was climbing away from me and BNZ attacking me once I had to jump down on the deck. It was a good fight and I had the Hun damaged and smoking. Then ran out of ammo(not a good shot here) and so I high tailed it home and lived to fight another day. Haven't had this much fun in the Hurricane in years so I will continue on and try to master her in CLOD. She is beautiful in a Brutish way.

S!Blade<><

Lovely pics as usual

"I have started flying the Hurricane by the cockpit gauges only and using the clickable switches in the cockpit for everything. What a blast, no zoom, just TIR5 zoom, and rad control in cockpit, boost cutoff in cockpit and trims on the throttle....."

Blade, that's the way I've always flown the sim. It connects you with the airplane. Gives you a much better feeling of actually being in it. I do it with DCS, also. I try to go to my keyboard as little as possible. I think that this is a terrific sim. It gives me an "I'm really there" feeling.

Thanks Trooper!

I hear you pooch. I have always used a dashboard in some sense or another rather than just look at the actual gauges. It does make it a lot more realistic and gives a sense of what the real WWII pilots had to do to make their planes last through the battles they were in. I wish Devs would come up with some way to make contact spotting easier. My monitor is 2560x1440 and my eyesight is not the greatest, even with my reading glasses. I like how someone made a mod for BOS that makes the labels very small triangles. Contact spotting is one of the reasons I don't fly MP anymore. I got tired of being wiped out and never seeing the enemy, LOL. Here are a few more. I have to say that IMHO CLOD is the best looking and FM flying sim that I have. Enjoy!

S!Blade<><

Ah....so the Italians were attacking England upside down. No wonder they got their butts kicked!

Pooch, the Italians were trying to be sporting since the Brits were flying "COWS" with Bullseyes on them.

S!Blade<><

I see you are flying the 'Common Weapon Sight'...

Call me "Daft" but I am not sure I know what " Common Weapon Sight" refers to? Iron sights?

S!Blade<><

Hi mate... Common Weapon Sight (CWS) British army night vision sight

A little free time on a Holiday weekend well spent in Blitz!!!

S!Blade<><

Don't attack ships!

S!Blade<><

A few from tonight.

S!Blade<><

Lovely shots Blade.

How did you get the historical markings? Is there a mod for it yet? Or do you have to DL skins individually and apply them yourself?

I haven't had a flight since they got rid of the historical markings.

Thanks mdwa.
All with HK are downloads. I believe you can open any mission in the editor and insert custom skins if you want them in custom missions. The default cross are like the one on the 110 with the Shark mouth.
I am still hoping that someone will come up with a way to change the default crosses out for the real HKs like modders have done in TGBS.

S!Blade<><

A few from the album

Peachy just delete the 2 outside [img] [img] and your pictures will show up here like mine do. You can sign in and edit your post and fix it Sir. Nice low level bombing run. I really like your last picture mate.

S!Blade<><

Thanks - done -

Another

Nice pics

A few offerings



And I just gotta have a verticle

4.55

S!Blade<><

Lovely sceenshots Blade_Meister, but even after all this time the aircraft still look like they have been dipped in milk. What is it with the shaders in this sim? It's like the aircraft skins are using the same shaders as might be used to show haze in the distance. Don't get me wrong I love CoD and am waiting impatiently for Team Fusion 5, but the way the sim represents the planes is odd and annoying. It shows particularly well in your second and final screenshots of the Hurri, against the tree foliage and the lighthouse.

That skin is literally called "Heavy Weathering with Markings". That is not your typical skin. While I respect your opinion, I completely disagree with itEdit: After thinking on what you said, I can kind of agree, maybe it is some of the shiny reflections? Otherwise I can't really put my finger on it, but the "dipped in milk" description just keeps coming to mind and I can kind of see it. I have to say though that it never bothered me as I really think CLOD always had great potential. I got it, they look like the chocolate easter bunny! I am just hoping to no end that TFS gets the Core fixes right and really hits a Home Run with 5.0. To me, IMHO, CLOD has always looked like one of the most realistic sim presentations of these war birds and the English/French landscapes. Maybe that is just me, but that is my 2 cents worth. Thanks for your comments. Here are some more traditional cleaner skins.

S!Blade<><

Looks like they've been dipped in milk? I think it's still one of the best looking combat flight simulators out there. The only disappontment I have with it, is that 5.0 is taking way too much time to come out. I want cannons on my Spitfire!

S!Blade<><




BAD TO THE BONE!

The milk dipped effect is an attempt to show the light grey aluminum surface wearing off. But in my opinion, (Yeah, who cares about my opinion?) having the RAF fighters overly weathered wouldn't be historically incorrect. At the time, these were practically brand new airplanes. Actually, a lot of them WERE brand new airplanes, only a day or so out of the factory and quickly thrown into combat. Many were shot down on their first sortie without ever having the time to look worn and weathered. They wouldn't look like that during The Battle, I would think.

So what you are saying is you don't like my pictures because they are Historically incorrect? Well for you information Mr. Pooch, this is Hurricane #1, the first none prototype ever built. She was pushed to the back of the lot in early 39 after exhaustive testing and training of many a rookie pilot. She then fought in the Battle of Dunkirk and stopped jerry from slaughtering our boys before the evacuation. She returned home for a short lived second retirement. Because of the dire situation in the BOB she was pushed back into service without a thought to what she looked like. She is a work horse not a show horse Sir. While all the young fillys were being rolled off the assembly line all shiny and new, she has been champing at the bit to play her part in this second struggle, the BOB, and you berate her on her looks! Shame on you Sir, she has downed a many a Hun and is proud of her rugged looks. She embodies the enduring struggle for the BOB and the unbreakable resolve of the common folk to break the back of jerry! Looks she might not have, but an Iron will she has! Good Day Sir!

A by note: Much to your relief I am Sir Mr. Pooch, she now resides on display in the Science Museum ‘Flight’ Hall South Kensington, London wearing genuine 615sqn markings with a shiny new coat of paint! We hope this meets your approval SIr!

Thanks for the amuniton MajorMagee.

S!Blade<><

The words "I do not like these pictures" was never written, uttered nor insinuated by this poster. As a matter of fact, your screenshots are, probably, the best I have seen of Cliffs of Dover.

Pooch... BM is having you on, lol!

And please aplogize to the Hurricane in question for any percieved insults as to her appearance.

Oh hell! I know!

All hail the old lady

Hawker Hurricane I ‘L1592 / KW-Z’
c/n W/O 5422.

This early Hurricane fought over Dunkirk and in the Battle of Britain. I believe that this is the only existing Hurricane to retain fabric covered wings.

Saved by the Air Historical Branch in 1944, it joined the Science Museum in 1954. It is on display in the ‘Flight’ Hall wearing genuine 615sqn markings.

Science Museum, South Kensington, London.

Photo of the Real Thing

He He! All in good fun Mates. Thanks Major for the Historical info. I weaved it right in to my previous post Sir.

S!Blade<><

Odds and sods, mainly from the stock 'Fat Cats' RAF campaign complete with its imaginative but unconvincing backstory, and its replacement 'redux' version with more credible backstory, both apparently set in the lesser-known Minor Skirmish of Britain...

This Bf110 of Zerstorer Geschwader 1 is trailing coolant but has knocked down a Hurricane, while escorting a raid to Manston...

Wimpy out in daylight...

Hurricane in trouble...

I'm landing...what are you two doing???

'When I said 'Fly low to avoid the radar', I didn't mean so low, that you actually flew into them...!'

Even a Hurricane can only take so much battle damage...

'Undercarriage lever a bit sticky, was it, Sir?'

'Ok, so what are we going to call the new sim? Spitfires over the White Cliffs? Spitfires of Dover? Wait, I've got it...!'

All that's missing is the Japanese tourists and their cameras...

'Save your bomb, Hans, these English merchant ships are sinking one another.'

'It definitely wasn't like that when I left...'

'I see we've had visitors...'

Taking a little brake from BOB II I see. Just out for a bit of sight seeing or are we flying a particular Campaign? You seem on a bit of an odd Russian Roulette ramble of pictures SIr?

S!Blade<><

"I see we've had visitors II'


A troubled outing!

Where is this 33lima?

Still a great looking game.... can't wait for version 5 to come out

CloD did an update last night and wiped all my preferences, grrrr! Only found out afterwards what I should have backed up. Time go go a-fiddling with the control key setup again and map the awful MP console/window thingy. Haven't played Clod Blitz since completing this and tend only to fly a little before losing interest again: https://combatace.com/forums/topic/92980-battle-of-the-battle-of-britain-sims/

CloD Blitz may be the Dog's Danglies for MP, but for SP it's the Curate's Egg - 'good, in parts' ie not good really. Radio command menu mostly non-functional. R/T traffic present and working, but the scripting mostly sh!te: 'I'll fly your wing', pass the sick bag please. Scale too small. AI mostly Artificially Dumb (AD rather than AI?). SP campaigns with broken or badly-scripted missions (LW, mostly) or imaginative but essentially awful briefings (RAF), the redux ones a little better on that score but still bearing only a passing resemblance to 'the Battle'. AAA (Awful Anti-Aliasing) instead of AA. No (easy) way to turn on labels in-game. Need complex engine management to get Spit/Hurri negative G cut-out.

As Tim Stone said of the original, ok if you can regard it as a nice collection of flyable virtual warbirds, with a limited air combat capability and a map, something between DCS and a 'proper sim'. As the focus seems to be on expansion, it's not clear how far the many SP limitations will be addressed in future.

Edit - since this is a screenshot thread...

Take THAT, you beastly Hun!



And THAT!



And the rest of you, stay away from my convoy, or you'll be for the chop, too...



(all three pics from the RAF Redux SP campaign, if I recall right)

Seriously, you couldn't not like CloD for its planes, and occasionally for its air combat, but as a serious SP sim of the BoB....

Take that!

S!Blade<><

***Captions for THIS screenshot are NOT invited***

'' Is that the joystick?''

"Or are you just glad to see me?"

Sorry Mates, but someone had to do it. 33lima, you asked for it by using reverse psychology me thinks!

LOL Trooper.

S!Blade<><

Missed your location quiz, Blade, that'll be Dover Castle, methinks. I was virtually there too, just a few weeks ago...

Sight-seeing...



More sight-seeing...



Not sight-seeing...



Home sweet home...

Some pics from the first Spitfire mission from the RAF Redux campaign, which I will have to replay because the sim, as well as ignoring its own V-synch settings, zonked my video card before I got to RTB and end the mission.

Ready to roll on a test flight with my new squadron leader, with CloD demonstrating its delight in cluttering the airwaves with stuff the boss should have told me before we were about to take off from Manston...



I thought from the briefing that I was supposed to follow the boss, an impression re-inforced by our relative positions on the ground. But hey, it wouldn't be CloD if missions played out as expected, so after waiting for ages I decide to crack on...



My take off was pretty awful, so I decide to do a quick circuit and end what looks to be a fairly boring sortie with the minimum of fuss. Seen here banking around Ramsgate on my crosswind leg...



I'm not sure what this airfield is - Ramsgate? - but it isn't Manston...



I decide to beat it up on my way back...



...before rejoining the Manston circuit...



However, the mission designer isn't going to let me off so lightly. A radio message reports incoming Ju88s. I can't turn on labels, the comms menu is mostly non-functional, and the map icons are staying switched off due apparently to CloD's penchant for ignoring settings changes. Anyhow the Huns are there somewhere, so I orbit dutifully and wait for them to appear. Which they do, coming in low from the east.



I slip in behind the last one and let him have it.



I get hits but not enough. Bits fly off the Junkers and he pulls up out of formation for a while, before settling back down



I take some hits from the bomber, as if the gratuitous advice on the radio, presumably from the boss, isn't bad enough...



My nose pierced by return fire, I then run out of ammo, and hear and see me telling myself that...I have run out of ammo.



By this time, my intended victim is flying on merrily as if nothing much had happened.



My hopes rise as I see him dip earthwards, but are dashed when he starts climbing back up after his comrades again, as they run in to bomb Manston...



I decide that I might as well do as someone is bidding me and land now, dodging any bomb craters. I'm surprised as I come in to see Manston apparently undamaged...



...and even more surprised to see that the Redux campaign's message system is telling me that I got a kill. That Hun bomber must have pranged, after all.



Before I can land, my PC prangs, the screen going black and the speakers emitting a gentle buzzing sound, which requires a cold restart to silence. So I'll probably have to fly the freaking mission again. Perhaps this time, V-synch will be working.

It's the Battle of Britain, Jim, but not as we know it

Tough buggers, those 88s. Fast too.

Those screens are absolutely fantastic. I actually have no issues with CLOD as a combat flight simulator. The combat seem very real to me. Few games have caused me to feel as though I've been in an air battle better than this one. I've read that the graphics are getting old, the AI isn't any good, it sucks....etc.. But I've had a completely different experience. I'm very much looking forward to 5.0 and hope that it's released while I can still hold a joystick.

Same here, as a SP person I'm waiting for 5.0 before I start playing again though... If they don't sort out the radio commands and the AI though it may be the nail in the coffin for me.
They do say there are far more SP people than MP players, so I hope they improve that side of the game... otherwise it may be end-ex for CloD

I wish I could share Coot's enthusiasm and hopes for the future, but every time I decide to fly another SP mission in CloD, I come away with a glass half empty sort of feeling. Or maybe that the glass is full, but about three-quarters is something decidedly unpalatable

Individual air combats can be fun, but for me are spoiled by stutter when an RT message plays, the fact that so many of them are nonsense (wonder if locating and deleting some culprits like 'I'll fly your six' would reduce stutter; failing that i'll install on an SSD at some point). And the audio is nearly inaudible, the comms menu mostly broken, the scale of ops is very small, the missions and other things seem often to be broken. I keep going back, hoping it'll be different, which only goes to show I meet that definition of insanity attributed to Einstein.

Case in point, 29th August mission in the RAF Redux campaign. The briefing talks of a maximum effort but the raid we're sent to intercept from Manston is...'TWENTY-plus'!



First play-through after the usual pre-take off RT chitter, the first two Spits leave but mine won't move, like I've got invisible chocks or my tyres have been superglued to the turf. No amount of fiddling with CloD's options menu seems to help.



In desperation, second time around I hit the autopilot key, which at least works. Really, it shouldn't be this hard.



I take back control as I follow the boss out to sea over Ramsgate. In views like this, I'm always distracted by the knowledge that those piers are going to disappear from view any second, draw distance being short despite maxed settings.



The boss reports incoming Dorniers. The report itself is very well done (despite the inaudible audio, which might as well be completely turned off to end the associated stutter), although he hasn't spotted escorts yet. Still he must have much better eyesight than me because I can see absolutely nothing of the enemy.



By the time I can. the embarrassingly small scale of the raid is apparent - six bombers (or maybe nine, if another kette was out of screenshot to the left) with a small clutch of 109s for escort. At least they react with convincing aggression.



About this time somebody reports spotting 109s, but by that point we are already engaged with them.



I chase one of the Messerschmitts and get some hits. Breaking off after he starts trailing thin white smoke, I lose him briefly and have to avoid an attack when tracer zips over my canopy. When I next see my target, he's going down in a shallow dive, and ends up crashing into the sea. At which point I start hearing (or rather, seeing) some of those embarrassing 'I'll fly you wing!' messages, complete with more stutter.



First one and then the other of my section rejoins, while the virtual airwaves start to fill with courses and heights. Is the fight over, are we supposed to reform, or what?



I can see no-one but my section so decide to go home to Manston. I can't tell them to land so it's every Spitfire for itself. Despite being as usual denied permission to pancake - those menu options at least work - I can't be bothered doing a full circuit so I make a quick approach, watching out for any other traffic. I'm coming in from the west, the same direction as our departure. Even now, somebody is still on the blower giving courses and heights.



As I land another Spit is buzzing by, and somebody is reporting 109s. I'm on my own and have no idea from what point the bearing to the enemy is being taken. Map icons, paths etc have so far resisted every effort I have made to turn on any of them, so I can't even 'cheat'.



As I taxy along looking for somewhere suitable to turn off, another Spit lands in the opposite direction. Glad to have avoided a collision, I am also pleased to be awarded a kill (meeting the mission completion goal) and can therefore quit. IIRC the debrief stats confirmed my 109 shot down, another damaged (by me or not is unclear), and a Spit from our squadron lost, along with two Hurricanes from a squadron I never saw. 'End Ex' indeed - 'No duff!' Until I feel the insane desire again, to try one more time...

In my book, CloD is just about acceptable for the odd tussle, and is possibly the proverbial dog's danglies for multi-player, but as a single player sim of the Battle of Britain, it's not at all satisfactory. So near, and yet, so far.

Well I solved the sound stutter following an ATAG forum poster's suggestion, installing CloD Blitz on an SSD (actually using Steam's settings options to move it, which was easily done using the instructions here... https://www.howtogeek.com/269515/ho...another-drive-without-re-downloading-it/ ).

To celebrate, here are some screenies from the last mission before the move (the RAF Redux FW200 Condor interception)...







I have no idea how the R/T traffic degenerated into this nonsense, but I suspect it's a lead in to the infamous Spitfire Girl mission...





...and the first gloriously sound stutter free mission, afterwards (the stock single mission intercepting a low-level bomber attack)...





















For all its many foibles, there are aspects of CloD that I find it impossible not to enjoy!

This fellow doesn't look so sure, though...!

Great pics!

Thanks Trooper.

The last CloD update seems to have broken the single mission, intercepting Heinkels bombing London. Before, the bombers stayed reasonably well in formation. As they seem to do in other single missions eg if substituted for the Stukas in the Hawkinge interception. Now, the Heinkels heading for London break formation more wildly than in that impressive but unreal sequence in the BoB movie. After that, they are all over the sky, climbing wildly, rolling left and right, going in all directions at once. I know there are accounts of single Dorniers during the 'Battle of France' attacking and even trying to dogfight with a Hurricane, but this is ridiculous! And their gunners seem more accurate than before, regardless of G forces.

Still, I managed to get some decent pics.

I say! Would you mind awfully not doing that?



Hah! Take ZAT, you Englander pig-dog!



I sink ze sick bags are in ze back somvere, Hans.



HELLOOO! You don't happen to have some change I could borrow, for the telephone?